- Joined:
- Oct 12, 2019
- Posts:
- 11,355
- Liked Posts:
- 5,741
My favorite teams
Thanks, Kool Aid Man...
- Joined:
- Aug 23, 2012
- Posts:
- 22,522
- Liked Posts:
- 7,550
- Location:
- Enemy Territory via southern C
We have Kane though, I think that changes what we need most. Hedman over McDavid would be a bigger impact. We can score, we can't defend.
LordKOTL
Scratched for Vorobiev
- Joined:
- Dec 8, 2014
- Posts:
- 8,675
- Liked Posts:
- 3,045
- Location:
- PacNW
My favorite teams
Exactly. Defense has been an issue at least since 2016 (and to be fair, team D--the FWDs are just as culpable).
The answer has to include both a top defensive FWD preferrably with O upside, and a two-way or defensive defenseman. Couturier, RoR, even Stone fits the bill from the FWD side. Hedman is the obvious choice from the defensive side.
Granada
Well-known member
- Joined:
- Oct 14, 2019
- Posts:
- 11,439
- Liked Posts:
- 2,667
Says the guy who picks the best player because he probably doesn't really know any other players, lol
RacerX
Silicon Valley CA Bears H
- Joined:
- Aug 21, 2012
- Posts:
- 10,029
- Liked Posts:
- 8,601
- Location:
- Silicon Valley, CA
You could have just said we have had a bottom-10 (5?) D since Hossa retired.
LordKOTL
Scratched for Vorobiev
- Joined:
- Dec 8, 2014
- Posts:
- 8,675
- Liked Posts:
- 3,045
- Location:
- PacNW
My favorite teams
The D was bottom-10 the last 2 years of Hossa's career. Hossa had a Meh. 2016 and even though he had a decent 2017 (enough to still be the 'hawks best defensive FWD), it still wasn't enough to get the rest of the team up to a respectable level.
While it is true the D plummeted even further after Hossa retired, the D started trending downhill in 2015.
- Joined:
- May 14, 2010
- Posts:
- 17,840
- Liked Posts:
- 2,546
I still say we explore the possibility of icing two goalies.
greg23
Well-known member
- Joined:
- Sep 28, 2014
- Posts:
- 10,002
- Liked Posts:
- 5,608
Given a free choice for any player in the leauge; only posters on this board would choose mark stone or Logan couturier over McDavid.
Hedman??? Guess I kind of get based on trying to fill a need (never seen that strategy fail....Sam bowie) but I still think McDavid is the easy answer.
Take the best player and go from there.
LordKOTL
Scratched for Vorobiev
- Joined:
- Dec 8, 2014
- Posts:
- 8,675
- Liked Posts:
- 3,045
- Location:
- PacNW
My favorite teams
This is Hockey, not Basketball. They are 2 VASTLY different sports. In basketball a single superstar can carry the team to a championship. That doesn't happen in hockey. If it did, Ovechkin would have more than 1 cup. Further, If McDavid would make or break the team, then how come the 'hawks plowed through him and Draisatl? I mean...it's the 'hawks--one of if not the worst D in the league and a cold, post-COVID Crawford made the Oil with 2 of the best players in the league look bad.
So of course we'd take a defensive player over McDavid. We know hockey and how it works.
Adding McDavid would give something like 1 extra goal every 2 games--he's about a .5GPG player. What he won't address is the fact that the defense leaks chances like a sieve. Hell, Kane has better defense numbers than McDavid! So for an extra goal every 2 games or so, the D would still leak like a sieve.
Hedman, Coturier, Stone, etc.would actually help getting the shots and chances down to give the goalies a chance to actually breathe, which would lower the GA enough that Kane, Toews, Koob, Saad, etc. could actually outscore opponents and might actually up the puck possession a bit since the 'hawks wouldn't be hemmed into their own zone for epochs like they have been.
LordKOTL
Scratched for Vorobiev
- Joined:
- Dec 8, 2014
- Posts:
- 8,675
- Liked Posts:
- 3,045
- Location:
- PacNW
My favorite teams
As long as one of them is Scott Foster
greg23
Well-known member
- Joined:
- Sep 28, 2014
- Posts:
- 10,002
- Liked Posts:
- 5,608
I guarantee you not 1 nhl gm would pick Mark stone or Logan couturier over McDavid given a free pick for any player in the leauge.....no matter their roster make-up.
Granada
Well-known member
- Joined:
- Oct 14, 2019
- Posts:
- 11,439
- Liked Posts:
- 2,667
The LA Kings with Wayne Gretzky (0 Cups) says hi.
Granada
Well-known member
- Joined:
- Oct 14, 2019
- Posts:
- 11,439
- Liked Posts:
- 2,667
Okay....and they wouldn't take Toews or Kane over Crosby or Ovechkin either, so your point is a bit moot.
The question wasn't "who is the best player in the league?" It was, "who would you like to see on the Hawks?" It was a question more focused on the Hawks' weaknesses as a team and what they would need the most.
It's a pretty unimaginative answer to just pick the best player in the league.
- Joined:
- Oct 12, 2019
- Posts:
- 11,355
- Liked Posts:
- 5,741
My favorite teams
You would think the fact that a Hawks team that eliminated McDavid's Oilers fairly handily before being themselves eliminated handily by a balanced Vegas squad with no real superstar would illustrate the fact that simply having the best player on your roster does not equate to success in the NHL would be evident...
- Joined:
- Aug 23, 2012
- Posts:
- 22,522
- Liked Posts:
- 7,550
- Location:
- Enemy Territory via southern C
As long as one of them is Scott Foster
****...they should have Scott Foster bobblehead day for the rest of his life, and serve $3 dollar Foster double cans and we will all celebrate his life.
- Joined:
- Oct 12, 2019
- Posts:
- 11,355
- Liked Posts:
- 5,741
My favorite teams
- Joined:
- Aug 23, 2012
- Posts:
- 22,522
- Liked Posts:
- 7,550
- Location:
- Enemy Territory via southern C
For about 20 goddamn periods Bickell beat the shit out of everyone and scored in the playoffs at will.
I hope we all remember for eternity that one of those cups never happens without Bickell. No chance. Bickell carried Kane and Toews and everyone else.
greg23
Well-known member
- Joined:
- Sep 28, 2014
- Posts:
- 10,002
- Liked Posts:
- 5,608
You answered the question for me
Q) Who would I like to see in the hawks?
A) The best player in the leauge....Connor McDavid
End of story.
Why is this so challenging and such a debate?
blackpep72
Active member
- Joined:
- Nov 2, 2019
- Posts:
- 205
- Liked Posts:
- 196
Connor McDavid together with Kaner would be unstoppable